Lent - What?

Today is the first day of Lent.  Some of you have been practicing the tradition of lent all of your lives, some of you, like me, only recently learned what Lent was all about.  When I was growing up in the Baptist church, the only thing I knew about Lent was: (1) that my Catholic friends couldn't eat meat on Fridays so the school cafeteria prepared some awful looking (and smelling) fish, and (2) said Catholic friends had to give up something they enjoyed - like candy or soda pop.  I didn't understand, and frankly, I don't think many of my young friends understand what they were doing either.  It was tradition - something handed down to them from generation to generation - so they particiapted as well.

Lent is actually a period of 40 days (plus Sundays) prior to Easter where we observe the ministry of Jesus Christ, his death, and end on the celebration of his resurrection. 

Easter! No matter what your religious background, if you are a Christ-follower, Easter is the day you set aside to celebrate the foundation upon which we build our faith - the fulfillment of God's saving grace - "...while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

The purpose of today's blog isn't to tell you to fast something for the next 47 days, or to suggest you only eat fish on Fridays.  The purpose is to ask you to set aside some time between now and Easter to reflect on what God did for us by sending His son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to live, minister, die and be raised from the dead.  This isn't just a good story - it is the miracle that happened so that each of us has the opportunity to be saved from our sin and spend life eternal with the creator of the universe.

To help you, YouVersion has added a couple of Reading Plans for Lent.  My favorite is Lent for Everyone.  Grab your tea (or coffee, if you must), sit back and read how God redeemed us through His son Jesus Christ.  Enjoy!